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At the end of tonight's meeting we talked a little about the Imus incident and about the response that scapegoated hip-hop as the cause of sexism, racism and misogyny but also opened up a forum for a lot of important dialogue on these intersecting issues.
Here's a few news stories you might find of interest:
Don Imus, White Denial and Racism in America - Tim Wise
http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/Imus.h
Oprah's "Town Hall Meeting" videos
http://nahright.com/news/2007/04/18/vide
An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey - Saul Williams
http://www.counterpunch.org/williams0419
Recommendation to the Recording and Broadcasting Industries: A Statement by Russell Simmons and Dr. Bejamin Chavis on behalf of hte Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
http://www.hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=i
New York City’s Power 105.1 Stops Playing Degrading Songs
http://www.xxlmag.com/onli
Is Hip Hop Really the Blame for this Don Imus Thing? - Davey D
http://www.thuglifearmy.com/news/?id=356
The art of diversion - Tara Henely
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=9172
Why Do Hip-Hop Bloggers Hate Women? - Billy Sunday
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=9484
Hear me out: Hip-Hop and Gender Criticism - dnA
Hip-Hop's socially conscious side - Jeff Chang and Dave Zirin
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-o
Here's what Bassey wrote a few weeks ago, and then a few of my thoughts. I'll also post this email on livejournal (ccfemmaj.livejournal.com) so please go there to engage in dialogue via the comments section.
I have a huge problem with how the rap world depicts black women and how demeaning that is for black people and women but that does not now nor does that ever "excuse" people like Imus or Michael Richards or Mel Gibson. My issues with Ludacriss and R Kelly and the Ying Yan twins and all teh execs over at BET are seperate and should be dealt with on a larger level.
That being said, I do think that black people in general need to take collective responsibility for how young black girls are being viewed in this society. To the extent where an "Imus" can make that statement and not feel a thing about it until called out.
The outrage should be great because we disallow this from anybody not that we disallow it from certain groups.
But righ tnow, the issue is Imus, the rest will and should be dealt with in the appropriate historical context.